Melinda Erickson
Adjunct Associate Professor
Education
| University of Minnesota | Water Resources Science | Doctor of Philosophy |
| University of Minnesota | Civil Engineering | Master of Science |
| University of Minnesota | Geological Engineering | Bachelor of Geo-Engineering |
Affiliated Graduate Programs
People
Introduction
As an affiliated professor, I am currently a Hydrologist in the Twin Cities at US Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Water Science Center. I am the team leader and principal investigator for the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program's work in the Glacial Principal Aquifer System. I have been working in the hydrogeology field since 1993, starting first in environmental consulting and then moving into groundwater-related research in 1998. I was a research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, before moving to the federal government with USGS in 2009. My favorite research topic is occurrence and mobilization of arsenic in natural groundwater systems. Developing models for the behavior of arsenic in the natural environment is elusive due to its complex associations with other metals and minerals, and the interplay of redox, pH, biogeochemistry, and hydrogeology. Even after 20 years of arsenic research, I continue to be fascinated.
Research Area(s)
Research
Primary research interests: geochemistry, fate, and transport of metals (e.g. arsenic, iron, manganese) and organic chemicals (e.g. petroleum fuels, endocrine active chemicals, and pharmaceuticals) in groundwater systems in glacial aquifers.
Select Publications
- Erickson, ML, HF Malenda, EC Berquist, JD Ayotte. 2019. Arsenic concentrations after drinking water well installation: Time-varying effects on arsenic mobilization. Science of the Total Environment, 678. pp 681-691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.362.
- Erickson, ML, SM Elliott, CA Christenson, and AL Krall. 2018. Predicting geogenic arsenic in drinking water wells in glacial aquifers, north-central USA: accounting for depth-dependent features. Water Resources Research 54(12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR023106.
- Erickson, ML, Malenda, HF, Berquist, EC. 2018. How or when samples are collected affects measured arsenic concentration in new drinking water wells. Groundwater, 56(6), pp 921-933. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gwat.12643.
- Elliott SM, Erickson ML, Krall AL, Adams BA. 2018. Concentrations of pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants in groundwater downgradient from large on-site wastewater discharges. PLoS ONE 13(11): e0206004. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206004.
- Elliott, SM, Erickson, ML, Krall, AL, and Adams, BA, 2018, Wastewater indicators, hormones, sterols, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals in soil at an agricultural field irrigated with domestic septage, central Minnesota, September 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2018–5100, 24 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20185100.
- Krall, AL, Elliott, SM, Erickson, ML, Adams, BA, 2018, Detecting sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine in groundwater: Is ELISA a reliable screening tool? Environmental Pollution, 234, 420-428, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.065
- Nicholas, S, Erickson, ML, Woodruff, LG, Knaeble, AR, Marcus, MA, Lynch, JK, and Toner, BM. 2017. Solid -phase arsenic speciation in aquifer sediments: a micro-X-ray absorption spectroscopy approach for quantifying trace-level speciation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta., 211, pp 228-255, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.05.018
- Bekins, B. A., Cozzarelli, I. M., Erickson, M. L., Steenson, R. A. and Thorn, K. A. (2016), Crude Oil Metabolites in Groundwater at Two Spill Sites. Groundwater. 54(5), pp681-691, doi: 10.1111/gwat.12419
- Cozzarelli, I. M., Schreiber, M. E., Erickson, M. L. and Ziegler, B. A. (2016), Arsenic Cycling in Hydrocarbon Plumes: Secondary Effects of Natural Attenuation. Groundwater. 54(1), pp 35-45. doi: 10.1111/gwat.12316
- Erickson, M.L., Langer, S.K., Roth, J.L., and Kroening, S.E., 2014, Contaminants of emerging concern in ambient groundwater in urbanized areas of Minnesota, 2009–12 (ver. 1.2, September 2014): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5096, 38 p., with appendix, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20145096.
- Erickson, Melinda L. and Barnes, Randal J, 2005. Well characteristics influencing arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Water research, Volume 39, Issue 16, Pages 4029-4039, doi:10.1016/j.watres.2005.07.026 and Erickson, Melinda L., 2005, Erratum to: Erickson, ML, Barnes, RJ, October 2005. Well characteristics influencing arsenic concentrations in ground water. Water Res. 39 (16) 4029–4039. Water Research, Volume 39, Issue 20, Pages 5277-5278
- Erickson, Melinda L. and Barnes, Randal J., 2005, Glacial Sediment Causing Regional-Scale Elevated Arsenic in Drinking Water, Groundwater, Volume 43, Issue 6, pages 796–805, DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2005.00053.x
- Erickson, Melinda Leigh, 2005, Arsenic in upper Midwest ground water: occurrence and geochemical mobilization mechanisms, PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota.
- Minnesota Department of Health (Messing R., R. Soule, J. Small-Johnson, D. Durkin, M. Salisbury (née Erickson), L. Souther, J. Connett, B. Baker). December 2001. The Minnesota Arsenic Study (MARS): Final Report to ATSDR.
